Chapter 7 Abbasid Decline and the Spread of Islamic Civilization to South and Southeast Asia

Mid-9th Century Abbasids were losing control over their vast Muslim empire Distance hampered efforts to move armies and control local administrators Most subjects retained local loyalties Shi’a dissenters were troublesome, while slave and peasants rising sapped the empires strength Mongol invasions in the 13th century ended the very weakened state Despite the political decline, Islam reached new cultural heights, and expanded widely in the Afro-Asian world through conquest and peaceful conversion

The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era Abbasid empire disintegrated between the 9th and 13th centuries Peasant revolts and slavery increased Despite the artistic and intellectual creativity of the age, the position of women eroded Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785) failed to reconcile moderate Shi’a to Abbasid rule Al-Mahdi surrounded his court with luxury He failed to establish a succession system resolving disputes among many sons, leaving a lasting problem to future rulers

Imperial Extravagance and Succession Disputes Harun al-Rashid became one of the most famous Abbasid caliphs His court was immortalized in the The Thousand and One Nights He became dependent on Persian advisors Al-Rashid’s death led to the first civil war over succession The sons of the winner, Al-Ma’mun, built personal retainer armies to protect their futures The armies became power centers, removing and selecting caliphs ; uncontrolled excesses developed into a general focus for societal unrest

Imperial Breakdown and Agrarian Disorder Continual civil violence drained the imperial treasury Caliphs increased the strain by building new imperial centers Peasants had imposing tax burdens Agricultural villages were abandoned and irrigation works fell into disrepair Bandits and vagabonds were everywhere; they participated in peasant rebellions often instigated by dissident religious groups

The Declining Position of Women in the Family and Society Freedom and influence during the first centuries of Islam declined Male-dominated Abbasid society imagined that women possessed incurable lust, therefore men needed to be segregated from all but the women in their family The harem and the veil symbolized subjugation to men Abbasid wealth generated large demand for concubines and male slaves Poor women remained economically active, but the rich were kept home Women married at puberty and spent their lives in domestic managing and childbearing

Nomadic Incursions and the Eclipse of Caliphal Power Mid-10th century breakaway provinces began to challenge Abbasid rule The Buyids of Persia captured Baghdad in 945 The caliphs become powerless puppets controlled by the Sultans The Seljuk Turks defeated the Buyids in 1055 and ruled the remnants of the Abbasid empire for 200 yrs The Seljuks were Sunni who purged the Shi’a Egyptians and Byzantines were defeated Byzantine defeat opened Anatolia, the nucleus of the Ottoman Empire, to settlement by Turkish nomads

The Impact of Christian Crusades European Christian knights invaded Muslim territory in 1096 to capture the biblical holy land They established small rival kingdoms Most were recaptured by the close of the 12th century by Muslims reunited under Saladin The crusades had an important effect on the Christian world through intensifying the existing European borrowing from the more sophisticated tech, architecture, medicine, mathematics, science and general culture of Muslim civilization Greek learning was recovered Italian merchants remained in Islamic centers after the crusader defeat and were far more important in carrying Islamic knowledge than warriors were

An age of Learning and Artistic Refinements Great ages of human creativity in states from Spain to Persia Employment opportunities for skilled individual remained abundant Merchants amassed large fortunes through supplying urban needs Artists and artisans created mosques, palaces and tapestries

Full Flowering of Persian Literature Persian replaced Arabic as the primary written language of Abbasid court Arabic was the language of religion, law an natural sciences Persian became the language of “high culture” It was used for literary expression, admin. And scholarship Development of calligraphy made literature a visual art form

Achievements in the Sciences Muslim society for several centuries surpassed all others in scientific and technological discoveries In mathematics thinkers made major corrections in theories learned from the ancient Greeks Chemistry, they created the objective experiment Al-Razi classified all material substances into 3 categories : animal, vegetable and mineral Al-Buruni calculated the exact specific weight of 18 major minerals Improved astronomical instruments, such as the astrolabe, were used for mapping the heavens Traders and craftsman introduced machines and techniques originating in China for papermaking, silk weaving and ceramic firing

Religious Trends Sufis developed vibrant mysticism Sufis reacted against the arid teachings of the Ulama Sufis sought personal union with Allah through asceticism, meditation, songs, dance and drugs The Ulama (religious scholars) became more suspicious of non-Muslim influences and scientific Suspicious of Greek rationalism and insisted that the Qur’an was the all-embracing source of knowledge Al-Ghazali struggled to fuse Greek and Qur’anic tradition

New Waves Central Asian nomadic invaders, the Mongols, threatened Islamic lands Chinggis Khan destroyed the Turkic-Perisan kingdoms of east Baghdad Hulegu (Chinggis grandson) continued the assault The last Abassid ruler was killed when Baghdad fell in 1258

The Coming of Islam to South Asia Muslim invasions from the 7th century added to the complexity of Indian civ. Muslim had a sophisticated but very different culture, that became a new factor Hindu religion was based on social dominated castes whereas Islam was doctrinaire, monotheistic and evangelical In the earlier period of contact, conflict predominated but as time passed peaceful commercial and religious exchange occurred in society